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Wii video on the way via Nintendo, Dentsu

Some programs will be available for free, ad agency says

TOKYO -- Dentsu, Japan's largest ad agency, said it would team up with game maker Nintendo to launch a video distribution service on Nintendo's wildly popular Wii console.

The two companies plan to offer programs created for the service, a Dentsu spokesman said, in contrast to most online channels, which tend to carry existing TV shows and movies.

Viewers will need to pay to see some of the new programs, while others will be offered free of charge and accompanied by advertisements, the spokesman said Thursday.

Nintendo has sold 34.6 million Wii consoles, which feature a motion-sensing controller that looks like a TV remote control, as of the end of September, far outselling Microsoft Corp's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3.

Dentsu and Nintendo will start offering the new service in Japan next year, while the timing for overseas sales has yet to be set, the Dentsu spokesman said.

He said the two firms have not decided what type of programs they will offer, but the Nikkei business daily said cartoons and other entertainment content will be distributed.